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Tomas, grown again to a hurricane overnight and even stronger this morning, is nearing Haiti, and is expected to visit high winds and torrential rains, with accompanying flash floods and mudslides, on a nation that can ill afford it.

Rainfall across Hispaniola, the island that hosts Haiti and the Dominican Republic, could total 5 to 10 inches, perhaps 15 inches in spots. That raises fears over the fate of the thousands still living in tent cities following the January earthquake.

The National Hurricane Center upgraded the tropical storm back to a hurricane at 5 a.m., and its 8 a.m. advisory placed Tomas’ center about 80 miles off the coast of Guantánamo, Cuba, and about 160 miles west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The storm was moving northeast at 10 mph and its center is expected to pass near western Haiti later this morning.

But hurricane force winds extend 15 miles and tropical storm winds 150 miles from center.

Top sustained winds are now 85 mph, making Tomas a solid Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

“Tomas still has about 24 hours or so to strengthen in an environment of realitvely low shear, high moisture, and over warm waters,” forecasters Richard Pasch and Todd Kimberlain wrote in a 5 a.m. hurricane center discussion.

Once the storm passes Haiti today, and moves through the southeastern Bahamas tonight, it should begin “a pronounced weakening phase,” and it should be a remnant low in the open ocean by the beginning of next week, the 5 a.m. discussion said.